Unnatural Evolution: Part 2
by Type069
Summary: We follow Alex Mercer as he is inducted into servitude by the last remaining Blackwatch operatives. As he is forced to perform difficult black operations, he struggles fiercely against remnants of the minds he has consumed as they revolt.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is the sequel to "Unnatural Evolution". If you haven't read part 1, please do so now. This is a very short chapter, and is nothing more than exposition. There is much more to come. I promise.

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><p>A helicopter began its descent on an adequate patch of ground, a rare level area that had little rubble. It was one of three helicopters landing on a mass of land formerly known as Manhattan Island. It had been a little over two weeks since a terrorist attack completely leveled the city, and Marines had been sent there to escort a science team in evaluating the effects of the attack.<p>

The sight they came upon was unexpected.

The city was completely leveled. This was expected. What was surprising were the three technically fresh corpses lined up in the only clearing the helicopters could land in.

The bodies were immediately transported off the island, to a base morgue.

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><p>"What do we got?"<p>

"Three bodies, recovered from ground zero."

"Post attack, I assume."

"Obviously."

A mortician and an officer were going over the field team's recent discovery; three corpses found at the sight of the most recent and tragic terrorist attack on American soil.

Each corpse was stripped of their clothing, which were identified to be radiation suits.

"Cause?"

"Radiation poisoning."

"Approximant time of death?"

"About three days ago."

Each corpse was sewn shut, having already been examined extensively.

"Any new theories on what they were doing there?" The mortician removed his mask, not bothered by the smell of the bodies.

"Just bullshit. The team found pieces of equipment near the bodies, but no one could identify it."

"Why not?"

"It was all fried. Circuitry was completely burned out."

The mortician put a gloved hand on a body's face, its features nearly unrecognizable.

"Shit… None of this makes sense. What the fuck were these guys doing out on ground zero?"

"We wont know. Not until it comes crashing down on top of us."

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><p>My name is Alex Mercer. Over two months ago, I unleashed an unstable weaponized virus in Penn Station, killing hundreds of civilians, and infecting my own lifeless corpse. I woke up in the morgue. I hunted, I killed, I consumed, and I became. I got the answers I didn't want, and I paid the price for my own selfishness.<p>

One week after I stopped General Randall's operation, codename Firebreak, I came across a Blackwatch soldier guarding a road block. I killed him, but before I could consume him, I was stopped.

In the two weeks that followed my killing of that soldier, he began his own hunt. He got answers he didn't want, and aided in the aversion of Armageddon in the process. Elizabeth Greene, the monster I failed to kill almost regained control of Manhattan. Without the help of the nameless soldier, I wouldn't have been able to kill Greene.

It wasn't enough. One of us had to die in order to obtain complete control over the infection Greene had spread. One of us had to be consumed.

It was almost me. By creating a powerful enough impact, he crippled my body, consuming almost 85% of my biomass, fourteen percent vaporizing on impact. With only the tiniest fraction of my body left, I burrowed into the ground, burrowed in deep enough to escape a nuclear blast that leveled what was left of Manhattan, and vaporized the soldier known as 242.

The infection was gone, and all of Blackwatch had been destroyed.

At least almost all of it.

Two weeks after the blast, a team of scientists had been sent to what was left of Manhattan to evaluate the effects of the attack. The official story was complete bullshit. They were sent to specifically find any of the three blacklight runners. One scientist found me, a mass of cells desperately fighting for survival. I held enough sentience in that form to stay incognito. I infected and consumed that man, taking his form to bypass a far too lax security check to the helicopter out of the area.

One Blackwatch trooper; a pilot who knew far too much for his own good. He gave me enough information to find a heading. I left the rest of the science team to rot, and now I am hunting a man named General Stevens.

A coward, a politician, a traitor.

I'm going to track him down. And I'm going to make him pay.

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><p>The helicopter was just beginning to run out of fuel as I descended into an unassuming group of buildings, a factory with various storage sheds surrounding it. General Stevens wanted absolute security, to the point of putting his remaining men in danger. There was no greeting party, no helipad markings. Even the helicopter I had stolen from the evaluation team was a civilian model, the pilot in plain clothes.<p>

I saw the warehouse he had chosen to hold up in. General Stevens had to incredibly naïve to keep his security so lax, to think his life was no longer in danger, to just assume I had died, performing the bare minimum in order to find me.

I exited the helicopter, still wearing the flesh of the plain clothes Blackwatch trooper.

The warehouse doors opened from the inside, the sound echoing in the dead air of the old factory.

Two soldiers stepped into the opening, fully geared up with tactical vests and gas masks, each one armed with an M4 carbine.

"Freeze! Hands up."

I complied, waiting for them to start their idiotic system of identification.

One of them stepped closer to me, rifle still aimed at my face.

"When we hunt?" The first question.

"We kill."

"No one is safe?"

"Nothing is sacred."

"We are Blackwatch." He lowered his rifle, stepping to the side to allow me in.

I walked into the warehouse, only giving a nod to the other trooper. The inside of the warehouse was nearly barren, a set of monitors and advanced computers in the center of the building. One person was studying the monitors, standing behind someone sitting at a desk, the sounds of keyboard strokes echoing in the empty structure.

I stopped a few paces behind the man, standing at attention with a salute.

"Sir."

The man turned around, revealing his face. Images of Blackwatch meetings surged forward, connecting the face with the name General Stevens.

"At ease. Report."

I put my hand to my side.

"The evaluation team found no traces of blacklight on the island."

"The team?"

"Executed and disposed of."

"The equipment?"

"Fried."

"Good." He turned back around, looking at the various monitors. "But incorrect."

"Sir?"

"The Marine Corp found the evaluation team. They had not been executed and incinerated as they should have been. They died of radiation poisoning."

I felt my muscles tense.

"Not only that, but there were only three bodies."

He turned back to me, tossing a paper file in my direction. The folder was stamped with the Marine Corp emblem, the words autopsy report under it.

"Care to explain, soldier?" His last word almost sounded like an accusation.

I felt my disguise melt away, my legs in the process of running forward. Despite my aggressive movement, I saw no hesitation in the general's eyes.

I felt something sharp and metal pierce my back, a fluid entering my body and immediately reacting with my cells. I turned to slice my attacker in half, every fiber of muscle in my body locking up.

The Blackwatch trooper behind me held up a large, fierce looking syringe. In my moment of biological hesitation, he stabbed me a second time, right in the chest, unleashing the remaining fluid into my body.

Pain spread out from the injection point, seizing my body in intense pressure and searing pain.

I remembered being infected by the weaponized cancer by Captain Cross, the pain it caused as it fed on me.

This was on a completely different level.

It was as if every single moment of pain I had ever experienced, whether personally or through the many people I had consumed was brought to light simultaneously. It was becoming so intense that I could feel the minds within me screaming in response, as if they too could feel it.

I dropped to the ground, coughing up what looked like blood, feeling whatever had been injected into me writhe with a life of its own.

I couldn't move, I could barely think.

I saw the boots of General Stevens enter my view.

"How naïve you must be." The last thing I saw before the darkness was General Stevens' boot on its way to my face.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Alex Mercer… All of this was his fault, and he would pay."_

"What?"

"_MERCER!"_

"What the fuck is this?"

"_You ruined my life. And you'll pay!"_

Within the darkness, I heard a familiar garbled explosion, but not through my own ears, through someone else. Someone I knew very well. As the sound became unbearably loud, the darkness was ripped away by a light brighter than a thousand suns.

It took me almost a full minute to realize I had woken up from the dream. I was in a room, ambient light exuding from the walls. It was so bright I couldn't tell how large the room was. Even my thermal vision was useless.

"You're finally awake. We almost had to abort the mission."

I couldn't tell where the voice was coming from.

"Where am I?"

I finally stood up, walking forward until I hit a wall.

"After the briefing."

"Fuck you." I reared my arm back, about to punch my way out.

As my muscles prepared to unleash their strength, my body seized up, my arm moving of its own accord behind my back, twisting until my bones snapped out of place. The pain was strong. Stronger than it had ever been. My body seemed to be refusing to heal the dislocated joints.

"_Be still. Listen."_

A voice I had never heard before spoke within me. It didn't belong to any of the millions of voices I had stolen, and I had never heard it in my short existence.

"A new feature. Like it?"

"Fuck off!"

I struggled against the invisible bonds keeping my arm locked up and injured. It wouldn't budge.

I felt that strange foreign object writhing in my chest again. Looking down, I saw thick ropy tendrils of pure black separating from my torso's sides. As the tendrils hardened and twisted over themselves, blades formed at the ends of them. Two fully formed limbs had emerged below my arms, the blades plunging into my chest and pinning me to the floor. As with my broken arm, I felt the pain intensely. A third tendril erupted from between the two blades' impact points, wrapping around my neck until I couldn't make any other sound besides a low gurgling.

"Good. It's nice to see you comply for once."

I pulled at the tendril and the two blades with my one free arm, trying to get off the floor.

"As you can see, we've made some improvements to your biology. You're under our command now."

I struggled more fiercely, doing anything I could to break free of my own body. The tendril only tightened around my neck.

"You are property of Blackwatch now. And you will follow our orders. Whether you want to or not."

My arm, which had been wrenching at the blades in my chest seized up, removing itself from them, against my will. My arm fell limply to my side, my most desperate commands to move ignored.

"_You're mine."_

The voice began chuckling.

"Now that you see exactly how fucked you are, maybe you'll listen."

The two blades ripped themselves from my chest, slowly dwindling down to the ropy tendrils they were composed of. I regained movement in my arm, and the noose around my neck finally loosened, retreating into my body with the rest of the tendrils.

I stood up, my injuries slowly healing; much more slowly than they should have been.

"Blackwatch's objective has been changed. We now deploy biological weapons into the field. Namely, you, codename Zeus."

I stared into the white wall, feeling rage overflow my defected body.

"This is a bit of a trial operation. We need you to infiltrate an enemy camp and burn it to the ground. No survivors."

A loud metal screech sounded behind me. Looking back, I saw the wall separating from the ceiling, falling back. A fierce wind flowed in from the broken seal. As it continued to lower, I saw the sky. Walking to the edge of the white room, I realized I was looking out of the back of a cargo plane's ramp.

The wind continued to whip at me, blowing my jacket out behind me.

A click in my head brought attention to a small device set in my ear.

"The civilians down there should provide enough information for you to find the camp. Eat up."

I didn't move, staring out at the distant ground.

"Move!"

Spire limbs erupted from my shoulders, imbedding themselves on the edge of the ramp. I struggled against them as they pulled me to the edge, before they simply vaulted me out of the plane.

The limbs retreated as I fell to the ground, the wind ripping at my flesh.

I spun out of control for a few moments, tumbling in the air before I righted myself. As I fell to the earth, I made my biomass lighter, catching the air slightly and slowing my descent.

I couldn't tell what part of the world I was racing toward, but wherever I was, it was green. I continued to free fall, slowing my inertia in bursts.

I hit the first tree top, breaking past branches and tearing through leaves. My feet impacted the ground, a small crater forming below me, the nearest tree collapsing.

I felt my biomass ripple with the impact, distributing it through my form evenly so I felt no pain.

Judging from the trees, the familiar scents, and the fleeing animal life, I was somewhere in South America.

"_North."_

I felt my body turn in a direction, mostly of my own will.

I began walking, brushing past the various plant life. It was difficult to see with so much clutter. Thermal vision was more efficient, allowing me to see far enough to find a group of people.

Slowing down, I approached the people, staying out of their sight.

They seemed to be gathering food. Picking plants and placing them into baskets. They were a bit spread out from each other, but one in particular was far removed from his friends.

"_Take him."_

I felt no desire to consume this man; to further the goals of Blackwatch.

"Consume him now. Find the enemy camp."

The radio gave me orders, the voice within me urging in a strangely silent way.

"_Fine."_

My claws formed of their own volition, the spire limbs erupting from my body again.

I struggled more fiercely against them as they began imbedding themselves in the ground and the surrounding trees. They pulled me in the direction of the solitary man, the group even further away from him now. The more I struggled, the more powerful their pulls became.

I was pulled into view of the man, still struggling against the foreign limbs. He could only stare, dropping his basket.

He turned to run, but was impaled by one of the spires, the limb bringing him closer to me. No matter how hard I fought, the tendrils I had become accustomed to slithered out of my back, drilling into the innocent villager as the spire ripped him to pieces.

His biomass and memories flooded into me. I glimpsed into a society that had not been present in any of the others I consumed. I saw the simplistic life of a man who performs true work, and the life he had established in this place. But I also saw aggressors. People in outdated fatigues and black market weaponry. They carried soviet model AK-47s, and had established a camp not far from the village this man came from. They terrorized the locals frequently, and stole whatever they could from convoy suppliers and the village itself.

"_We've found them."_

"Now go to the camp and kill them all."

I complied, knowing if I refused I would merely be possessed again. Maybe it was also a little desire stolen from the villager. The need to stop the terror.

I began running through the trees, using my parkour to easily weave through the plant life, hearing various wildlife flee as I passed through their homes. I felt an uneasiness, as if a predator was waiting to strike at me. Not any animal in this jungle, but that strange presence within me. I felt its blood lust.

The camp was in sight. A rudimentary wall surrounding the compound. Two guards stood at the gate, rifles in their hands. I was no longer fighting the infected, or Blackwatch. Compared to them, these guards would be far too easy to kill.

I walked out of the jungle and onto the dirt road leading up to the gate. The guards immediately reacted, yelling out in a language I only recently became fluent in. I hadn't thought to disguise myself, seeing no need to do so. The guards must have been confused by the presence of a sickly looking white man in the middle of the South American jungle.

They aimed their rifles at me, fingers prematurely squeezing at the triggers. I felt my biomass ripple, my skin hardening to absorb the impact of the bullets. As I failed to comply to their yells to halt, they began firing at me.

The bullets flew through my body, my reaction instinctive.

I ran to them, claws formed. I saw the confusion and fear in their eyes as I charged at them, slicing through them. I hadn't been meaning to consume them, but the tendrils emerged of their own volition and absorbed their dying bodies.

I saw more information. Slaves, forced to farm out plants and process them into cocaine. I saw the compound from the inside, watching these people making cocaine and shipping it out.

Why the fuck was I taking down a drug compound for Blackwatch? Since when did the biological suppression team become the DEA?

"_Just do it!"_

Thin tendrils began wrapping around my arms and legs, the thin bonds forcing me to move forward and break down the compound gate. I fought against the tendrils, hearing more yells and scrambling. As I continued to fight against my bonds bullets began raining down on me. I formed my shield to block the bullets, still fighting against the bonds.

As my left arm held the shield, my right arm formed into claws, ramming into the ground against my will. I felt my biomass burrow through the ground before surfacing in a plethora of spires. Through the spires, I felt the victim's biomass slipping into mine. I briefly experienced a few half memories. Images without meaning. I wasn't on the receiving end of this man's mind. Whatever was within me was consuming him.

I heard the screams next. Of horror, anguish, disgust. Looking around, I saw a few of these "soldiers" running away; others more determined, reloading their weapons.

"_No survivors."_

Before the tendrils encircling my limbs could force me to, I leapt forward, landing on and crushing an attacker. I ripped his rifle from his dismembered arms, firing into the fleeing guards from a distance. The magazine's capacity was low, and I quickly went through the clip.

"_There he is!"_

A man ran out of one of the larger huts, clutching a briefcase to his chest. The tendrils tightened their grip, four spire limbs erupting from my torso. Whether I would have gone after this man or not, it didn't matter to them. This man had something they wanted.

My limbs moved against my will once more, the spire limbs dragging me forward. I didn't fight, knowing it would do no good. The man didn't have a chance, two of the limbs piercing his body and drawing him closer.

The limbs held him in front of me, allowing me to see his face. He was pained, and angry, and fearful. The remaining two limbs pierced him, eliciting a scream before he was consumed.

I only received fragments of his memory, seeing large quantities of money and armament being exchanged before the images disappeared.

"We got what we came for."

"_Now we burn."_

The limbs retreated, and I felt the densest of my biomass being agitated. Before I could protest to what was happening, my arms rammed into the ground, sending spires of deadly biomass surging through the ground and erupting across the camp, powerful tendrils exploding from the rest of my body. I felt the various spires and tendrils pierce through the survivors of the camp, eliminating everyone who had been here. The spires and tendrils slowly retreated, and my weariness suddenly caught up with me.

I fell to the ground. I had never used two devastators at once, and the stress was too great for my body.

"_You weak, insignificant mite!"_

Pain surged into my head once again, every moment of pain I had ever experienced brought to light once more. It amplified exponentially as it continued to draw on my experience of the pain, constantly redoubling as it fed on itself. I tried desperately to hold onto consciousness, unwilling to let myself black out again.

It didn't work.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This is a short chapter, just to let you know that I haven't abandoned the story. I'm afraid I might be rushing it a little, but I just want to get this out here, as I feel I have been neglecting this story lately. Please review. I value my reader's input greatly, and I want to make a story you guys will enjoy.

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><p>"<em>ALTRUISTIC recovered several interesting anomalies from hope. We've only let you see some."<em>

"_I want access to PARIAH."_

"_I'm gonna forget you know what that is, doctor. You don't have clearance. Always remember: you work for us. Escort the director out."_

"_Sir! If you'll just follow me, Dr. McMullen."_

I woke up during the experience of reliving a stolen memory. Specifically one of a Blackwatch soldier hearing a conversation between McMullen and Randall.

"You have many interesting memories, Zeus. We can barely sift through it properly. How you can form a coherent thought is a marvel of science."

That voice again. I was in the white room. I stood up, looking into the white that surrounded me.

"Why are you going through my memories?"

"It's just standard procedure."

I clenched my fists, feeling that rage building up again.

"You know much, yet too little to truly understand what's going on. McMullen, Randall; none of them had any idea what was actually going on."

I could only feel that rage continue to build.

"Randall was the cause of the Blacklight outbreak in Manhattan. He made the decisions to keep Greene and PARIAH, and I consumed him. I know all about what's going on."

I felt the voice within me chuckle darkly.

"You really think Randall was truly in the know about PARIAH? He may have made the decisions to keep those two alive, despite orders to eliminate them, but he knew nothing of PARIAH."

"What are you talking about?"

I was just a few words away from ripping this room to pieces.

"That's enough talking. We have a mission to complete."

"I'm done doing your shit work."

The wall behind me began opening up once again, revealing the sky.

"You're done working for us when we say you're done. Now move."

The strange black tendrils began wrapping around my limbs again, forcing me to walk out of the cargo plane.

Once more, I fell to the earth, slowing my decent and observing the environment. I could tell it was a desert. I couldn't tell where though.

Having already gone through the process of high altitude falling, I engaged in a perfected technique of decreasing my velocity. Without any trees to crash into, I hit the ground unhindered, creating a small crater into the hardened sand.

A desert wasn't technically new to me, as I had experienced it through proxy; marines who had been deployed in the Middle East. This was very similar to their experience. Dry air, dusty wind, and an unmerciful sun. My biology was already responding in subtle ways to this extreme change in environment.

"_West."_

I began walking toward the setting sun, listening for whatever they wanted me to hear.

"_Faster."_

Before I could comply of my own volition, my leg muscles began propelling me forward. As I followed through with the order, taking charge of my body again, I felt that rage being stoked. Even the stolen minds within me reacted with anger and hatred. Such a strange sensation. A union forming in the mental chaos of my mind as a segregation of my biology continued to march forward.

I would continue planning my destruction of Blackwatch, dreaming of the revenge, praying for murder. It would become an unholy war of blood and hate.

"_You're prayers will go unanswered. You belong to me."_

"Just stick to the objective. Continue to plot your fruitless revenge schemes on your down time, Zeus."

Running through desert sand was different than concrete and asphalt. Each step was a small catapult for millions of dust particles; a brief sinking sensation before a cloud was formed behind me. At this speed, it was a comical trail of dust clouds, like some childish cartoon.

It wasn't long before I came upon a collection of buildings. I skidded to a halt, overlooking a decrepit compound of cracked concrete and dust laden glass.

"_Found it."_

"Don't use your shape shifting abilities, Zeus. There will be witnesses, and security is prime. Disguise yourself, and infiltrate the compound."

Before I could choose a form, my appearance shifted to that of a standard marine. Fatigues, helmet, vest. I suppose it didn't matter that the uniform was not standard issue for soldiers in this region.

I jogged to the compound, heading for the nearest building.

"_Compromise our stealth, and you wont be awake for the next ten years."_

I entered the building as quietly as possible, checking corners and clearing rooms. I went up to the second story, finding someone in typical Middle Eastern garb, an AK-47 slung over his shoulder.

Reacting instinctively, I approached him from behind, quickly ripping out his throat and stepping into his place as his body melted into my own. I instantly received his memories, now seeing what Blackwatch wanted with these people.

Money from the drug trade had come into their hands, and they were using it to fuel their activism. This wasn't a major terrorist cell, yet they still managed to do damage in conflict zones across the Middle East. Killing them, no, consuming them would lead to more influential groups, and maybe even major leaders.

I had no place in this war. But I had no choice but to follow through with the Blackwatch agenda.

I already knew where to go, not needing the radio or the intruder to give me orders.

Wearing the flesh of my recent kill, I began walking to the main building. I passed by a few of the other soldiers in the compound, briefly acknowledging a guard to the main building's entrance with a perfect copy of my disguise's native language, imitating even the subtlest of inflections that he had personally developed in his former life.

A few lies, and I was in.

Walking into this modified building, I quickly made my way to the third story, encountering a small meeting.

Agitation at my abandoned post was made obvious immediately. Ignoring the assault of heated questions and orders, I closed the distance between me and the group of people surrounding a table covered in maps and pens. I identified the leader, and quickly drew my stolen weapon. I briefly heard yells and accusations before firing upon the others in the room. With four people dead, and a panicking leader, I dropped my rifle.

I walked to him as he drew a pistol, firing twice into my chest, and once in the head. I lifted him by his neck, squeezing until he could just barely breathe. I saw the fear in his eyes as he watched my injuries heal. A brief memory of his face arose in my mind, reminding me of the man in South America that the intruder had consumed through me.

My hand clenched into a tight fist against my will, tendrils reaching out of my body to absorb him. Once more, I received only brief images of his mind, not consuming him directly.

"_Now make some noise."_

My disguise became that of a marine again as I heard someone running up the stairs.

I quickly picked up the rifle, replacing its clip as the guard from outside rushed into the room. Before he could begin firing at me, I had already pumped a few rounds through his chest. He fell to the ground, blood seeping out through his clothing. I grabbed some of the extra ammunition he carried, as well as a grenade he had in his pocket.

I could already hear people outside beginning to move, coming out of their various posts and hiding places.

I left the building, running out into the open compound. I fired into the people running toward the main building, bringing them down and causing the others to take cover.

The intruder said to make noise, and that's what I planned to do. I fired in bursts, quickly changing magazines when I needed to, too fast for anyone to fire back. With my well above human hearing, I could tell someone was trying to flank me. I undermined their attempts by simply moving toward them, taking them down with a few simple close combat attacks. I made sure to emulate a typical marine's martial arts, to keep the illusion active.

I took cover as my opponents finally took their chance to fire back. As they came out of their cover, I used the grenade I had taken, dispatching at least two of my attackers. I heard the sounds of retreat as I reloaded my rifle, coming out and waiting for them to expose themselves.

A dusty car swerved into view, heading right for me. I raised my rifle and prepared to take out the driver.

"_Spare him."_

My finger locked millimeters away from the trigger. I dived out of the path of the car as it sped past me, kicking up a few rocks in my direction. Recovered, I watched the vehicle speed out of the compound and presumably onto a road.

I dropped my rifle, my marine disguise melting away.

"_Mission complete."_

My vision suddenly went black, my other senses intact. I briefly panicked, trying to reverse my sudden blindness. My body became locked as the sounds of helicopter blades overtook the natural desert wind.

I felt arms take hold of my useless body and begin hauling me toward the source of the helicopter noise. Before I could begin screaming in frustration in my head, my consciousness was extinguished.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I really hate to sound so desperate here, but I am asking my readers to please leave reviews. All forms of constructive criticism are more than welcome. I truly wish to better this story as much as possible. I want to create something you will enjoy. Thank you.

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><p>The world I awoke in was not the one I lived in. It was the purest sample of my chaotic memories. I would experience one memory, then almost immediately fall into another; constantly phasing between fragments that made no sense. Then everything was dark again.<p>

The dark was the only peace I could ever hope for. And every time it was ripped from me. Soon everything ran together. Light, dark, memory, amnesia. It all became the same thing.

The new memories were false, constructed of broken pieces of people and mutants alike. The world solidified into something real, yet completely false. The air was dead, the buildings far too fragile to stand for very long. The slightest touch and everything collapsed.

I ran through this world, trying to get out, trying to find a tear in this fabricated fantasy. The more I tried to escape, the harder I struggled, the more powerful my strikes, the stronger the world became. The buildings solidified, no longer made of loose soil. The air remained dead, but every time I stopped, stood still, I heard it.

Breathing.

Not my own.

The breathing of a man who had been running far too long. The breathing of someone of infinite suffering. The breathing of a man with the means to break through this fantasy.

The breathing of someone wearing a gas mask.

I had heard something similar thousands of times. Blackwatch troopers wore gas masks at all times, partly for protection, partly to keep their tortured psyches calm. The breathing gave them something to focus on, to keep them in the self induced trance they had been in since they began their training. To take off the mask, would be to eliminate the only thing keeping them alive, in more ways than one.

But this sound was different.

The intake of breath was too strong, and the exhale too quiet. This man didn't breathe to stay calm. He breathed to sustain a level of fury far beyond even my limitations. His every breath was to remind himself that he was still alive, that he still existed. And as long as he continued to breathe, he had a mission.

No matter how hard I focused on the breathing, how much information I gleaned from the limited exposure, I couldn't find his name, his mind. Like a total block from the inside. A blackout of information. It infuriated me more than my imprisonment.

But I know that the information is there. I know what the answer is. But I can't say it, even within my own mind.

I know what his name is!

I know what he did!

I know how he died!

So why can't I say it?

Why can't I control this?

This fuckin' place. I hate it. I need to get the fuck out of here.

I need…

Out of here…

I NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

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><p>"Amazing. Almost like an exact copy of Carnival III, yet fragmented across the entire genetic structure. Like a puzzle."<p>

"What about the others?"

"There's no trace of them. Randall, Greene, Cross, completely assimilated. All of them."

Voices, electronic equipment, light…

"Get this report to Stevens immediately."

AIR!

"Wait, the monitors…"

Air rushed into my lungs, my invisible chains momentarily lifted. The first time I had felt free since the Blackwatch attack, the intruder inert.

Before this feeling vanished, I moved my muscles, faster than ever before, eyes open far too wide. Everything moved in slow motion.

Doctors, scientists, people in white coats, whatever. They were there, and they had instruments with my blood on them. Before they could process my upright position, my hands had already caved their skulls in. With them dead, I got off the operation table, cables of unknown operation coming loose from my flesh. I was within a quarantine bubble, easily ripped open by my claws.

This quarantine zone was within a building I hadn't seen yet, but similar to the warehouse I had been captured in. No windows, bare walls. One door.

I ran to the door, not bothering to open it.

Breaking out of the quarantine room, I came to a long hallway. Doors were lined up on both sides, each one secure with heavy locks and metal paneling, like a prison. Overcome with a desire for answers, I checked one of the doors, breaking the lock and forcing it open.

Inside was something horrific, by someone else's standards. All four walls splattered with blood, chunks of flesh dried to the ceiling. A single body slumped against the wall opposite the door.

It was a twisted mess of bone and muscle, organs all in the wrong places, skin completely absent, yet a distinct face of terror and aguish.

I left, checking another room to see a similar scene. The further along I got in the hallway, the fresher the corpses seemed to be.

Test subjects. All of them.

Tests for what exactly, it didn't matter.

I had to get out, as soon as possible, find Stevens and destroy him one cell at a time.

I ran to the end of the hallway, a second hallway perpendicular to it. Right first.

No time for subtly. I barreled through the door, breaking it off its hinges and rolling into a new room.

This room was white, no sense of dimensions in any direction other than the door I had just broke down. In the center, sitting in a chair, hooked up to a plethora of electronic equipment, mounted monitors surrounding him, was a D-code soldier.

His head was hung, as if he was asleep. I stepped toward him, seeing all of the wires and circuit boards hooked up to exposed parts of his skin, leading to the various pieces of equipment on the ground and the monitors that were set up around him. I glanced at a screen, only for a second, but long enough to see my stolen memories being projected through the collection of pixels.

By the time I looked back at the presumably sleeping D-code, he had already stood out of his chair.

"_You got close. But not close enough."_

He spoke aloud, but I could feel the intruder's voice speaking within myself simultaneously.

I didn't allow the realization to form into words, I merely reacted, throwing a heavily muscle fist toward the culprit of my recent fury.

I got so close.

So close to ramming my arm down this asshole's throat.

But everything stopped an infinitesimally small distance away from his gas mask. My arm could go no further, no matter how much rage surged through my body.

He observed my fist as if it were just another object in a room, rather than a lethal weapon. He manipulated me, making me lower my arm before he punched me himself, launching me out of the room.

I recovered easily, seeing him follow me out of the room, his silent chuckle reverberating throughout my mind.

I couldn't retaliate, couldn't even begin attacking. My body was locked completely. He lifted me by the throat, looking at me through the device mounted over his eyes. He threw me through the wall of the hallway, into a more open area.

Chunks of cement and cinder blocks scattered everywhere, the tile floor stressing under my impact.

I looked up to see the D-code lumbering toward me, wires still hanging off of his body and dragging on the floor.

Unable to stand, he stomped on my chest, crushing me further into the floor.

"_We were all very impressed by you in Manhattan. But you're not the only one who can adapt."_

He kicked me away, crushing more and more of my skeleton.

"_Blackwatch is an unstoppable force, capable of adapting to any situation, changing its tactics and operations at the slightest development. Capable of amputating anything that refuses to follow through. Killing just one insignificant General isn't enough."_

He picked me up once again, crushing my throat.

"_You can't even hope to get away. We created you, and now we control you."_

As he continued his monologue, I felt tendrils of my own biomass slithering across my skin of their own accord, wrapping around various parts of my body tightly, binding me.

He finally dropped me, my injuries healing slowly, the tendrils still binding me.

"_Sir."_

I saw the D-code's back as he saluted someone.

"At ease. Report."

Stevens.

"_DNA investigation complete. Zeus' genetic code has retained a fragmented copy of Unit 242's DNA."_

"And what about Cross' DNA?"

"_No sign. All three subjects of interest have been completely assimilated."_

I saw Stevens glance at me for a moment.

"Relay these orders. Continue investigating 242's genetic remains and Zeus' memories. I want everything on my desk yesterday."

"_Sir."_

"And get someone to clean up that mess in the quarantine room."

Stevens walked away, swiftly leaving the room.

My formerly locked limbs began to tremble, muscle control trickling back into my consciousness. I took advantage of this tiny piece of control, attempting to break the bonds.

The D-code turned toward me, noticing my gradual return of free will. The bonds tightened, fighting against me.

I could feel pieces of me breaking on the inside, heavily reinforced bones snapping, mimicked organs bursting. The bonds constructed of my own biomass began to weaken, slowly breaking.

I could fight.

I could break free a second time.

I could kill everyone.

The strain was becoming too great, but I managed to sit up.

While the D-code's facial features were completely hidden, I could feel his frustration, his panic within myself.

I could beat him. I could overcome his control.

I could…

Pain. No. This couldn't possibly be classified as pain. There are no words to quantify this sensation's intensity. Not in English. Not in Spanish. Not in French, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Latin. Not in any of the innumerable languages I knew. A sensation so intense and agonizing that rational and conscious thought was completely impossible. There was no reaction, except to seize up and scream.

Unconsciousness was soon to follow, but even unconsciousness couldn't quell this horrid incarnation of hell.

The only thing that could have comforted me was seeing the D-code clutch his head painfully before darkness overtook everything yet another time.


	5. Chapter 5

That breathing… That fuckin' breathing…

His name… Why can't I say his name? Just a sequence of numbers, not even a real name. But I can't say it.

He's dead. I saw him die, felt him die. He can't be here. It's just not possible.

I just need to get out of here, out of this world he has created. I need to get out of here before this world becomes too strong, too solid. I need to get out of here, before he becomes real again.

I fought against the D-code intruder, I can fight against him.

"MERCER!"

No… Not now… Not here…

"Mercer… You did this. You brought us here! YOU FUCK!"

I need to get away, before he finds me.

"No where to escape. No where to hide. No peace, no rest. Not as long as I still breathe!"

The world… It's too dark to see, to move. Where is he? Where did he go?

"I'm too strong for you now, Mercer. You can never get away. Not before the world is reduced to rubble."

* * *

><p>"Activate him now, before we lose him."<p>

"_Emcrre, egt pu onw. Ebofer I rdpo oyu niot boilivno!"_

Those words… They don't make sense…

"_Eh iwll ocsnmue oyu!"_

"_WAKE UP!"_

Light, air, sensation.

I'm alive.

"Report. What the fuck happened?"

"_His mind, no. Something in his mind was attempting to consume him."_

"The parasite?"

"_No. The parasite is perfectly inhibited. It is stable and inert."_

"Then what the fuck happened?"

Sensing my awareness, the intruder dropped me into the darkness, locking me away from his conversation, as well as the world I almost became trapped in.

242…

His name was 242. He died in a nuclear explosion on Manhattan, yet he was still alive, in me. He must have been blocking his name once Blackwatch hijacked me. But why?

I had no time to think anything over. The real world was coming back; the white room. My body felt severely unstable, biomass shifting constantly, no sense of control. I stumbled to a wall, leaning against it for support. I fell to the ground, finally noticing several wounds in my chest. Bullet wounds.

As they bled, I noticed that they were in a very specific order. These were the same wounds I had received when I had woken up in the Gentek morgue, as well as the wounds the real Mercer had incurred when he died at Penn Station. Why did I have them now? And why was I so weak?

"You are a very interesting subject, Zeus."

The speaker system in this room.

"So much information locked away within you, like a massive hard drive for genetics and human memory."

Rage dulled by pain.

"Yet, there is no way to extract any of this genetic information, no way to bring back any of the ones you killed. The virus has assimilated all of that information, scrambled it beyond recognition"

Why wouldn't these wounds go away?

"Even Cross is lost in that catalogue."

"Cross?"

"Captain Cross. Former leader of the Wisemen Team. Supposedly compromised and assimilated by you. Why do you think we've been searching through your memories so vigorously? Cross represents the pride of the Blackwatch force. Bringing him back would be a major morale boost."

I stood up, still leaning against the wall.

"I didn't kill Cross. The incarnation of the cancer parasite, the Supreme Hunter consumed him before I could."

"Interesting. That would explain why our investigation has had no results."

A strange pulse surged through my body, causing more pain and discomfort.

"No matter. Cross is expendable compared to our latest find."

My injuries continued to bleed out, no sign of regeneration taking effect.

"Tell me, where do you go when your mind shuts out our D-code?"

"What are you talking about?"

A panel on one of the white room's walls began sliding away, revealing a screen. It displayed a video of me lying on an operating table, various vital signs display beneath the video feed.

"When you're unconscious, you periodically black out from our monitors, and even our invasive agent can't locate where your consciousness has escaped to, as if you've set up a safe room in your own mind."

The vital readings stopped showing any signs of activity, as if I was flat lining.

"These black outs happen every time the genetic remains of Unit 242 begin to align; when those fragments are close enough to be considered an intact sequence of genes. Due to the nature of the Blacklight virus, this phenomenon happens quiet frequently."

Unit 242…

"We know you're communing with Unit 242. Now tell us what he's doing."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

A thick tendril suddenly burst from my shoulder, shooting out toward the exposed monitor. It embedded itself deep into the monitor, past the actual hardware and into its power source. Electricity traveled through the tendril and directly into me, electrocuting me.

"Don't fuck with us, Zeus!"

The tendril stayed connected to the power source, continually shocking me.

"Unit 242 survived the attack on Manhattan through you, hiding his unique sample of DNA inside you, and he has now gained enough sentience to manipulate your memories. What is he hiding from us?"

The tendril had briefly disconnected from the current, only to return to it, sending powerful surges of electricity through my still injured body.

"I don't… Know…" I fell to my hands and knees, coughing out blood.

"We don't need you as badly as you think, Zeus. We have all the operatives we need, who are more than willing to become infected as you are. We can destroy you right now, and carry on with our new objective."

The electric shocks were becoming unbearable, frying my insides and burning my flesh. And there was nothing I could do to blunt the pain, not even manipulating my cells to not conduct electricity as well as they did.

"I don't know anything!"

"Stop lying to us!"

The electric shocks were compounded with the D-code's memory manipulation, causing me to experience each shock multiple times.

"He doesn't speak to me! He never even shows his face, I couldn't even remember his name until recently!"

The torture continued, even after I had told the truth. I never would have imagined giving in to torture like this, but I had never experienced pain and helplessness like this, not even through Blackwatch's cancer weapon. Even though my natural reaction would be inconceivable rage, I couldn't feel it, only feeling the weight of my capture on my head.

I couldn't break free, couldn't even deny their wishes.

This was my limit, and I couldn't evolve through it, couldn't overcome it with strategy or cleverness. I had reached my extinction point.

The tendril finally dislodged itself from the electric current, retracting into my body.

I gasped for air, not realizing I hadn't been breathing this entire time. I coughed up more blood before I fell to the ground.

"That will do for now. On to your next assignment."

The D-code finally allowed my injuries to heal themselves, the process slower than ever.

"As planned, the terrorist cell we have been hunting has fled to one of their safe houses. You're to go in and eliminate them, no shape shifting."

Despite not being able to fully stand, the white room's ramp began to lower, the D-code forcing me to walk to it. As I jumped out, I realized that the cargo plane was flying very low, allowing me to take the fall without needing to slow my velocity.

Even after rolling to circumvent the force of the impact, it still jostled my injured form, breaking anything that had recently healed. I was about to evacuate another puddle of fresh blood, but my throat seized up, blocking the mass of injured fluid.

"_We leave no trace, Zeus. The cleanup crews can't eliminate every little drop of blood you leave behind."_

Standing was close to a completely new experience. Luckily, the mechanisms most vital for basic movement had healed first, allowing me to at least stumble.

Blackwatch had taken a big risk, dropping me near a town. At least, it looked like a town. My vision had become very blurry, contrasting my usually superhuman sight.

My body was forced to don the disguise of the man I had consumed at the now abandoned encampment. I could not be forced to move faster, as it was physically impossible; tissue damaged beyond simple regeneration.

Even if I didn't want to be Blackwatch's puppet, if I didn't consume a living creature soon, I would cease to function on a sentient level. It was a biological imperative that I find sustenance, the same as any other living creature on Earth.

The world spun, shapes constantly out of focus, no sense of direction other than the D-code's subtle control over my movement. Had these marionette strings been absent, I would have probably ended up wandering into the desert.

The world only began coming into focus when the presence of humans became somewhat prevalent. Cars, pedestrians; they were close. My steps became more purposed, looking for anything even vaguely human shaped.

"_Subtlety, Zeus. We can't be compromised this early in the mission."_

My disguise's eyes had become wide, near frantic with desire. No. Need. There was a realistic chance that death was close, whatever form death would take. And it needed to be averted, right now, no matter the cost.

Luckily for Blackwatch, or me, there happened to be a lone man walking through a confined space between two buildings, too small to be called an alley way.

I followed him as quickly as possible without drawing attention to myself.

The distance between us was closed almost instantly; his death, even closer to an instance, following immediately.

His memories meant nothing to me; all I needed was his life, and his appearance. Strength returned, my body's regenerative abilities immediately becoming active, fueled with new biological material. I breathed in deep with reconstructed lungs, the mimicked organs delivering the pleasant sensation to a clear mind. It wasn't long before I returned to an acceptable level of strength; body and mind healed completely, by my own definition.

There was no time to kick myself for consuming some random civilian, only time to shake off the remnants of tissue damage from the torture, subliminal orders already coming in.

With a new face, I walked through this Middle Eastern town, looking for the seemingly insignificant images the D-code was showing me. A small building, no more conspicuous than the ones around it. This was one of the safe houses Blackwatch had driven members of the terrorist cell to.

Admittedly, it was a good plan. Consume an area leader to learn safe house locations, and let one survivor report the security compromise to the others, then wait for a safe house to be occupied.

I must have underestimated Blackwatch's man power, as they had to have field agents reporting to them from many places.

"_You underestimated us from the beginning, Zeus. Stick to the objective."_

I never really paid attention to the heat the last time I was in this environment. Not being human, my body could easily adjust itself on the smallest scale, to survive in this kind of heat, this lack of moisture. But it was still an impressive amount of heat.

The building. The safe house. I had found it. Just as inconspicuous as it had appeared in my mind. Only those who knew what it was would have ever been able to identify it.

As I walked to it, preparing for what was inside, I could feel something watching me. Directly behind me, just staring into my back. I turned my head to see what it was, only to be greeted by an empty street. But I could still feel eyes staring at me, with an intensity I could never feel from anything else.

I had to ignore it. I had to carry out Blackwatch's objective, or face some form of extermination.

I walked up to the wall surrounding the building, easily breaking the lock on the gate and opening it. The front door was just a few more steps away, the unseen eyes still boring into my head. The closer I got to the door, the more intense the gaze aimed at my head became.

And now I could hear it.

The sound that was quickly becoming my greatest and only mental trauma.

The sound of someone breathing through a gas mask.

I had to ignore it. I had to perform my mission.

The breathing only got stronger, more clear. The sound itself was beginning to impair my own breathing.

I couldn't think about it. I had to ignore it. Most importantly, I couldn't say that name.

Uttering that name, even in my own head, would completely fuck me over.

It all had to be ignored, no matter how prevalent it was.

I reached for the door knob, ready to pull it cleanly off the door.

Right as I touched the hot metal of the door, ready to carry out with my servitude, everything froze. Even the breathing stopped, the hidden eyes disappearing. Even the subtle presence of the D-code intruder vanished. Time no longer existed, and everything was dead, even the air.

This frozen moment lasted for a perceivable eternity, the courtesy of panic, or any kind of mental response unavailable. It was simply a moment, devoid of everything that defined life. Then it finally shattered, an eternity ending with a simple accusation.

"_You are weak, Mercer."_

With the shattering of an eternal moment, came complete darkness. The door disappeared, as did the heat. All I was left with was an explosion of voices, all screaming for mercy, for vengeance, for peace. It all melded into a single noise, expressing only pain and hatred, as the two loudest voices continued without me.

"_Security compromise! Parasitic control has been lost! Preparing to subdue the subject."_

"_You are weak, Mercer. You degenerative pile of shit. You will burn."_

"_Location has been unveiled. Targets have opened fire. Collateral damage is rising."_

"_And when everything is ashes, I will be the only one left. No Zeus, no Blackwatch, nothing."_

"_Attempts to subdue Zeus have failed. Agent is now rogue. All targets have been killed."_

"_I overestimated you, Mercer. You have become a great disappointment."_

"Strike squad has been deployed, subject is north bound."

"_Unable to activate the parasite from this range. Zeus' method of escape is still unknown. Tracking."_

"Transmitting visuals. Subject is heading for a military compound 30 miles out from here. Preparing to engage."

"_Unable to access Zeus' mental state. Subject has completely blacked out from all monitoring methods."_

"Engaging Zeus. Subject is continuing north."

"Stop him, right now! We can't let his existence go public!"

"Taking Damage!"

"_Parasite has come out of remission. Preparing to activate."_

"We're taking heavy damage here, pulling out."

"No! Continue engagement!"

"_Parasite has been damaged, preparing to restore biological tissue."_

"We're going down! Auto rotating to-"

"Come in strike package, report. Report!"

"_Visuals have been lost, tracking on Zeus has been terminated."_

"Strike team is down, preparing for recovery."

"_Parasite active. Tracking restored. Subject is down."_

"Recovery team has been sent. Gas the town."

"_Terminating Zeus' mental functioning."_

The voices finally stopped, and the world came into view only briefly. Long enough to see the wreckage of an Apache helicopter and my own blood covered claws. Then everything was black once again, as I lied on a hot patch of cracked cement, smelling a combination of blood thick air and burning fuel.

* * *

><p>AN: Just for clarification, the scrambled words near the beginning of this chapter are actually words. If you're willing to unscramble the words, you can read what the D-code was saying to Mercer. I really wish I could give this story the attention I want to give it, but I'm not as motivated as I once was. Hopefully the quality of the next few chapters will be better.<p> 


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